31 December 2009

I'm not sure why I decided to add a photo of my breakfast to this post. But I did. It was pretty yummy.

I know this was not a great year for many people. At work, I'm thrilled to be able to say good-bye to 2009. It was crazy and insane. Brian and I were fortunate to survive during a time of budget cuts and lay-offs. But overall, I have to say, 2009 was a really great year for our family. Some of the highlights of our year were:

27 December 2009

Next up, a day with Brian's family. Brian's mom had a fantastic Christmas lunch for us. We spent a great afternoon with her, then went over and visited Brian's sister and her family. I know we don't need to hop on a plane, or travel many, many hours in a car to visit our families, but sometimes, it would really be nice to live closer than a couple hours away. We had a great time with everyone. Thank you, Wisconsin. We miss you already.

We left fairly early for our next leg of the Wisconsin journey, but not before a bit of time in the snow. My mom loves it as much as the boys, I think. She took them sledding. My dad plowed the driveway while C stood under the blowing snow and Storm chased the tractor.

Florida girl making snow angels -- Santa's helpers (yes, C is wearing his suit coat, again)Christie and me with our cousin, Justin.Storm with my sister, the former non-dog lover.Most of the gang.The day after Christmas, we traveled to Wisconsin to spend the holidays with our families. My parents hosted an awesome chili lunch, and we were very happy to get to spend time with my sister and her family and my cousin and his family from Tampa. My parents live in the woods, and it was a beautiful winter wonderland while we were there. My dad's tractor rides while pulling the sled(s) around the driveway were a huge hit with the kids. What a great day.

(Here's a video, of the tractor sled ride, in case you are interested):

25 December 2009

The boys woke up at 7:00 a.m. They were so excited about the slot car set they got -- but H was mostly thrilled about the letter Santa wrote him in response to his. At 3:00 p.m. we finally got out of our PJs and got ready for our guests. Melissa and I took turns with the courses, and had a great meal. We had sweet potato ravioli.

French onion soup.

Shrimp with bok choy and an Asian Beurre Blanc Sauce.

Lamb.And chocolate cake and cookies. We also did wine parings, so by this point, quite frankly I forgot to take pictures (updated note: for really good food shots, and a photo of the finished lamb dish, visit Tales of the Elsmo Four). It was a great night, and now, we are looking forward to our trip up to Wisconsin. Merry Christmas.

C donned his finest suit jacket (the only one he owns -- the first time he's worn it) and we walked across the street to The Frigs house for ourannual Christmas Eve. appetizer extravaganza. This year, Penny's parents were in town from Mississippi, and it was a pleasure sharing the evening with them. By 9:00, the boys (and M) were anxious for us to go. They had been tracking Santa and noticed he was already in Canada. Needless to say, H & C were asleep within minutes. Thanks for a wonderful night Chris & Penny!

24 December 2009

We'll be home for the holidays this year. It's really icy out, so probably is a good thing our plans don't take us more than a block away from home, celebrating with greatfriends, sitting by our fire. We'll travel to Wisconsin this weekend to see our families, and can't wait. Besides, there's nothing wrong with celebrating four days of Christmas now, is there?

Preheat over to 350 degrees F. Coarsely chop 3 ounces of chocolate; melt it and set aside. Chop remaining 2 ounces of chocolate into pieces the size of mini-chocolate chips. In a small bowl, combine chopped chocolate with cocoa and cocoa nibs, if using. In separate glass bowl, combine egg whites and cream of tartar; beat with electric mixer at low speed for 30 sections, then at medium speed until soft peaks form. Slowly add sugar, about a tablespoon at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Beat mixture about 2 minutes longer, using medium speed of mixer. Mixture should be smooth, opaque, glossy and thickened. Beat at high speed for 30 seconds more. Lightly fold in cocoa mixture and melted chocolate just until evenly blended and no streaks remain. Do not over mix. Drop rounded teaspoonfuls about 1-inch apart on parchment paper lined cookie sheets.

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-12 minutes. Cookies will be firm when pressed gently by still soft inside. Cool for 1-2 minutes on pans, then transfer to wire cooling racks to cool completely. Cookies are best served fresh, but may be stored in tightly covered container for up to 3 days or in freezer for up to 3 weeks. Makes about 4 dozen.

21 December 2009

We are not big outdoor holiday decoration people. We plop a wreath on the door. And I put some red tree branches in our outdoor planters. But I do get a kick out of some of the homes in our neighborhood. Here's just a few we found around the neighborhood from when H & I took Storm on a walk today.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cut each roll into 1/4 –inch slices. Place on ungreased cookie sheets and bake for 6-8 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on pan for about 2 minutes, then remove to wire racks to cool completely. Makes about 9 dozen.

20 December 2009

The Elsmo's threw an awesome holiday party last night. It was so much fun spending the evening with friends, old and new, from far and near. We stayed out later than we have in awhile (I'm speaking for myself of course). This morning, the "out-of-towners" and Elsmo's came over for brunch ... complete with Bloody Marys. Very good times.

17 December 2009

I have no idea what got into me. I'm not a cookie maker. I've never felt the need to bake cookies during the holidays. Once -- I think it was our first year in our first house -- I made some cookies. That was a long time ago. For some reason, this year I decided to tackle not one, not two, but a few different cookies recipes. I'm half way done.

Preheat over to 350 degrees F. Cream butter, gradually adding powdered sugar; mix in vanilla. Blend in flour; mix well. Shape rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls. Make a deep well in center of each ball with a handle of a wooden spoon. Fill with ¼ teaspoon of Filling Shape scant ¼ teaspoonful of dough into a flat round and place on top of filling; press to seal. Place on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 1-2 minutes; then roll warm cookies in Coating. Make about 3-1/2 dozen.

A little girl at H's school was selling mistletoe to raise money for American Cancer Society. We bought two. Last weekend, I took the boys to the store, and asked Brian if he could hang it up while we were gone. One is hanging up in the living room. But I completely cracked up when I found the other one ... hanging above our bed.

16 December 2009

This morning we got treated with an awesome concert at H's school. I'm always amazed at the show they put on, and the 2nd and 3rd graders were very impressive. The 2nd grade sang I Saw Three Ships (H played xylophone) and Kye, Kye, Kule, a West African call-and-response song (wow - I found video of the actual production of this song here!). Third grade sang a Hanukkah song, In the Window, and a very sweet version of The Twelve Days of Christmas. Together they sang The Hope of the Future, and signed along with it. It was really wonderful. As an extra treat for H, Brian was the "mystery reader" in his classroom in the afternoon. They enter the room covered in a blanket, and the children have three clues to guess. H got it right away, and couldn't have been more thrilled. From the sounds of it, Brian had a pretty awesome time too. (He read Sancho the Snowboarder, and it was a big hit.)

15 December 2009

Brian and I bought our first house house about twelve years ago. It was a 2-flat in the River West neighborhood in Chicago. We immediately hit it off with the couple who were living in the building (even though she once blamed our dog of peeing in her purse -- we found out later it was really her EX-husband, if you can imagine). And while it was only four months later before they bought their own place and moved out, those four months were amazing. We spent the summer hanging out in the back yard, practically sharing every meal and staying up until the wee hours of the night laughing and talking. We've stayed friends throughout the years, but it's been almost three since we saw her last. Tonight, our friend Basia came over for dinner. It was simple evening. We ordered Thai. And had a great time catching up. I can't wait to do it again.